Behaviour Change

PROPAGANDA FOR CHANGE is a project created by the students of Behaviour Change (ps359) and Professor Thomas Hills at the Psychology Department of the University of Warwick. This work was supported by funding from Warwick's Institute for Advanced Teaching and Learning.

Friday, January 31, 2014

A student
from last year’s cohort simply stated that this advert (run by Burger King in
2006) was using the competition template. This is one of the six templates
identified by Goldenberg, Mazursky and Solomon (1999) that the majority of the
adverts they analysed conformed to. I do
not disagree with the interpretation that this advert seeks to suggest that
eating experience at Burger King is superior to that of MacDonald’s and hence
belittle it’s competitor but I also think a number of other techniques are
being employed which are worth exploring.

In order to
link the advert to MacDonald’s Burger King has chosen to use the term ‘clown’.
This is clever because not only does it quickly associate the observer with
MacDonald’s but it also can be interpreted as a derogative term. The word clown
has connotations of a fool. Hence this could be an example of another one of
Goldenburg et al.’s (1999) templates- the consequences technique. The
consequence being: if you eat MacDonald’s you are a fool. This negative
consequence is further emphasised by the contrast between the clown and king (yes,
you’ve guessed it, another one of Goldenburg’s et al.’s (1999) templates!).

The use of
all three templates tap in to a basic human desire- to have a positive
self-image. We want to eat somewhere we feel like a king rather than clown. The
desire to avoid an insult or jeer was explored by Janes and Olson (2000) who
found that participants exposed to video recordings of someone being ridiculed
by a comedian were more likely to subsequently conform to the instructions of
the experimenter than those that watched a film clip containing non-target
comedy. So by created an atmosphere or connotation of ridicule we can increase
conformity because people seek to avoid the negative feelings associated with
insults.

The messages
described above are the focus of the advert rather the taste and value of the food
itself- although we are given an example of the product and price. The
radiating beams of angelic light really hammering home the point how the
superiority of their brand. Although, if we are honest, the burgers never
actually look that good!

This advert,
created in 2012, rides on the hype of the London Olympics. It is part of a
government campaign designed to encourage people to drink milk as part of a
healthy diet. It depicts Jade Jones,
Laura Trott and Nicola Adams who won gold medals in Taekwondo, cycling and
boxing respectively. I personally hate milk but let’s see if I can be persuaded
otherwise!

The advert uses
two of Cialdini’s (1984) principles of advertising; liking and authority.
Liking of the sportswomen depicted is induced via the modes of contact and
cooperation. Contact or familiarity was found by Zajonc (1968) to increase
positive attitudes towards a person or object in what he coined ‘the mere
exposure effect’. He demonstrated this in various tasks including asking
participants to view various Chinese characters and then getting them to decide
whether they meant positive or negative adjectives. They were more likely to
guess positive if they had seen the character frequently before. This advert uses
celebrities to create the feeling of familiarity. We have seen their faces
around a lot, especially in the climate of the Olympics and as a result, we are
more likely to view them favourably and consequently be persuaded by them.

The second
mode of liking, cooperation, sees the advert capitalise on the ‘Olympic spirit’
in Britain at the time of the games. We saw everyone come together and support the
country with the shared goal of Olympic gold medals. Cooperation increases
liking, as demonstrated by Sherif and Sherif (1953) in their summer camp study.
They showed that when two conflicting groups of boys had to work together to
push their bus back to the camp, they got on better and conflict was reduced.

The other of
Cialdini’s (1984) principles used is authority. He suggests that we are more
likely to be persuaded by someone if they hold some authority over us. Here
authority has been elicited in two ways. The first is their expert knowledge.
If someone has achieved a gold medal in their sport then you know they are an
expert. For example; Hofling and colleagues (1966) demonstrated that simply the
title ‘Dr’ made nurses blindly follow instructions under the belief a Doctor is
more knowledgeable than them. Secondly, uniforms create a sense of authority.
For example, Jade Jones’ Black belt clearly suggests her superiority. Uniforms alone can increase persuasion as was
demonstrated by Bickman (1974). People in the street were more likely to comply
with the requests of the same man if he was dressed as a guard compared to when
he was dressed as a milkman or civilian. I can certainly relate to this myself.
I do Taekwondo and the mere mention of a black belt, without fail, provokes the
response; “Oh, I better be nice to you then!” as if I am some crazy, unstable
maniac! So come to think about it, maybe not the effect that the advertisers
were going for.

Humour is
another technique used in this advert to persuade the vitamin deficient reader
to have a glass of milk. The moustache on top of their upper lip, I personally
found comical. This is a common persuasive technique used in advertising (well,
not the tash specifically). However a recent review by Weinberger and Gulas
(1992) suggests that humour is not more effective than non-humour at persuading
directly. However, an element of humour attracts attention and can increase
liking for the product. Through these two avenues, a humorous addition can
facilitate persuasion.

Furthermore, Goldenberg and colleagues (1999) posit that effectively
persuasive adverts use a creativity template. This advert uses the completion
template meaning that it depicts the product beating other similar products. In
other words, this advert attempts to insinuate that the drinking of milk has
led the competitors to win gold in their respective sports, thereby beating all
the inferior athletes who had toast for breakfast. Ironically I still hate
milk, but none the less, an effective advert.

Robyn
Wootton

Bickman, L.
(1974). The Social Power of a Uniform. Journal of Applied Social
Psychology, 4, 47-61.

Cialdini, R.
B. (1984). The psychology of persuasion. New York: Quill William Morrow.

Thursday, January 30, 2014

The time has come - you need a new phone and paying 30£ for a couple of text messages with your current moblie network won't cut it. Believe it or not, this may be the luckiest day of your life. YOU have been chosen to lead the mobile network on your own (and you'll get that sim-card in the process). Giffgaff offers an exciting community that is dedicated to providing you with a perfect service without the corporate mumbo-jumbo.

Offering less features than the competition is the main selling point of this advert. They have no customer service centers, don't offer monthly plans and make you do the tech support work for them - far better offer than your alternatives! Wait a minute ... have they gone completely crazy or is this a joke? Neither. In many cases it is not the feature list your product showcases, nor is it the quality that attracts buyers. What matters is the perspective.

Valence framing (Tversky, Kahneman, & Choice, 1981) is a technique where you take an object and intentionally cast it in a positive light. See, having no customer service centers is actually a great thing! And you know what's even better? You guessed it - no monthly plans! This advert carefully presents the network's lack of features as the best aspects of the company, leaving little to actually dislike. The result is a perfect service that is very hard to resist.

The technique is reinforced by introducing contrast throughout the clip. Not only do they show you the amazing features they offer, they don't forget to show you all the horrible acts their competition is responsible for. Contrast is one of the most common advertising techniques and it works so seemlessly that there is virtually no defense against it (Tormala, & Petty, 2007). If you place a good service next to a terrible one, the first looks that much better!

All it takes at this stage is a superhero to save the day. The giffgaff representative is the Batman of the story (paper mask included) who has the perfect solution and is an antagonist to the evil corporations. Giving someone "a helping label" makes not only them, but the objects they are associated with seem much more likable (Strenta, & DeJong, 1981). This encourages you to help them back - in this case by purchasing the product.

While having no more than 30 employees, giffgaff is a popular mobile provider in the country with eyes on expanding soon in the future. Last year they successfully started selling mobile phones and while the company does not offer a range of features superior to their competitors, they make up for it in their community structure and marketing that comes across as extremely friendly and likable.

This advert, advertising McDonald’s
new Big ‘n’ Juicy burger allows consumers to take a massive serviette from an
oversized dispenser. As was previously
pointed out, this is an example of an interactive experiment template used in
advertising (Goldenberg, Mazursky & Solomon, 1999). This is where the
consumer can interact with the advert itself, in this case taking a serviette
from it. However, there are other techniques that this advert uses as well…

I think this advert uses the
extreme situation template (Goldenberg, Mazursky & Solomon, 1999). This is
a technique where adverts represent scenarios that are unrealistic in order to
amplify the product’s attributes. The size of the serviette suggests that the
burger will be so big that it will require a serviette this large to clear up
the mess from it. This is clearly an unrealistic representation because the
burger is definitely not human-sized.

This advert also uses social
proof. Social proof is when we look at how others are acting to determine what
is and isn’t appropriate behaviour (Rao, Greve & Davis, 2001). As people
walk past the advert they will see others taking a large serviette, realise
this is the appropriate action and take one themselves which then gives the
advert a wider audience. This fits with the idea of social modelling, where a
person demonstrating a certain behaviour increases the likeliness of the observers
then conducting that behaviour (Pratkanis, 2007). Brian and Test (1967) found
that the presence of a helping model significantly increased helping behaviour,
for example, in donating to the Salvation Army or helping a distressed
motorist. People taking a serviette from the dispenser, therefore, is likely to
increase the chance of observers also taking a serviette and thus increase the
advertising for McDonalds as they carry around their oversized serviettes.

As you can see, this advert
accentuates just how big and juicy this burger is from the size of the
serviette – it suggests that it must be that big to mop up all the juice coming
from this burger. People walking around with massive serviettes are going to
encourage others to head to McDonalds to sample just how amazing this ‘Big ‘n’
Juicy’ burger is!

It’s amazing how a cat and a creepy guy dressed as a cat can rack up millions on views on YouTube…all in
the name of confectionary. Skittles marketing team have done it again - traditional
brand advertising has been dropped and the use of a simple interaction
technique has had us simple beings succumbing to the viral power of an amusing
cat once again.

Humour is the leading persuasive technique in this
advertisement which makes the brand appear fun and light-hearted - this
increases liking for the product. Strick et al (2009) found that persuasion is
increased through liking by the changing of implicit attitudes. This was
demonstrated by participants who viewed a product presented consistently with a
humorous cartoon compared to a non-humorous version. The results found that
product choice and evaluations were more positive when paired with the humorous
advert, merely by association. Humour is a common and effective technique used
by confectionary companies as they want their products to come across as
enjoyable, it is not an industry which desires to be taken too seriously.

The use of humour also leads to a positive mood in the
viewer. Petty, Schumann, Richman and Stratchman (1993) found that a positive
mood results in effective persuasion when the targets are not motivated to
think about an issue or product in too much depth. A positive mood directly
impacts the positivity of the attitude which can improve liking for the
product. This is relevant in the case of this advertisement as there is not
much focus on the actual sweet itself; there is more emphasis on the bizarre
situation with the crazy cat man.

This particular video from the ‘Touch the Rainbow’ series
(there are 3 more) requires the viewer to place their index finger on the
screen. The use of an interactive activation template increases the persuasive
value of the advert as viewer involvement through physical activity requires
more effort. Effortful processing is associated with high cognitive activity, leading
to the advertisement being more memorable (Goldenberg et al, 1999). The shock
of the man coming to lick your finger further increases audience attention as
viewers are much more likely to remember shocking advertisements than those
which are not (Dahl, Frankenberger & Manchanda, 2003).

The use of humour and shock in this advert is what caused it
to go viral. Once again an advert has been produced which has little to do with
the actual product but has been highly effective in generating hype.
I don’t think I’ll eat a red Skittle again without picturing that
man’s face…but that shows that the advert has been effective, right?

The advert produced by Skoda for the release of the Skoda Fabia
caused quite a stir, and even won an advertising award. What then, apart from
the nation’s love for Julie Andrews, made this such a persuasive advertising
campaign?

One important aspect to consider in this analysis is that
Skoda had been developing a bad reputation before this ad campaign and
therefore this ad was their bid to increase confidence in the brand. The first
persuasive technique that has been taken advantage of is association. This is a
technique which involves linking an idea or an object to another concept so
that the original aspect takes on the positive aspects of the associated object.
In this case the car is associated with (the best thing ever?) cake. By associating
these two things, the advertisers have evoked positive feelings from us about
the product despite the fact the two items are in no way related! Association
was shown to be a powerful tool in liking by Lott and Lott (1960) who
demonstrated that liking for a previously neutral person went up significantly
when paired with the receiving of a prize. It has even been found that
association is particularly effective when the item is associated with the other
item on irrelevant attributes (Warlop and Alba, 2004). Which is this
ad in a nutshell!

Another aspect of the ad that wasn't directly used but that
ensued after its release is the idea of social consensus. Social consensus is
that feeling we get when everyone is doing something and we want to do it too!
In the case of this ad I vividly remember people asking “have you seen
the Skoda cake advert?” We then begin to feel that because everyone else is
doing it, this must be the correct thing to do. Milgram, Bickman and Berkowitz
(1969) demonstrated this in a simple study in which confederates were told to
stand on a street and look up. They found that the more confederates there were
was directly related to the amount of people who came and copied their
behaviour. In the case of Skoda the surge in popularity for the ad is believed
to have been the reason it came out of its slump. By creating an advert that
everyone had to watch, they were able
to regain their popularity. They did this without having to revamp the company
or investing in a radical new design but simply by associating their car with
cakes!

This shows how popularity of an advert, which hinges on the
principles of association, is enough to completely change a company’s image.
Everyone loves a success story. Although to mar this with tragedy apparently by
the time the cake car had been made it was too mouldy to eat. I could have
cried.

References:

Milgram, S., Bickman, L., & Berkowitz, L. (1969). Note on
the drawing power of crowds of different size.Journal
of personality and social psychology,13(2), 79.

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

A boiling pot, little pigs and... a
police team? First impressions suggest that this is a film trailer or at the
very least a Sherlock Holmes style investigation. However, this little advert
has many twists and turns along the way as although it did win a Cannes award,
it, in fact is not a film trailer, but advertising The Guardian Newspaper.

Contrary
to the popular children’s' story, the three little pigs are portrayed in the
adverts as villains, having boiled the not so 'big bad wolf' alive. This
creates a media frenzy and police investigation beginning with the pigs being
put on trial, sparking riots and much polarised opinions.

This use of Storytelling is a clever
persuasive technique. When arguing that AIDS is not spread through casual
contact, Slusher & Anderson (1996) found it more effective to use facts
about transmitting the disease embedded in a causal structure compared to using
statistics. The advert shows many people can have different opinions about high
profile events, but the three little pigs tale emphasises The Guardian’s commitment
to reporting the ‘whole picture’ in their newspaper as they turned the story
into something unexpected, whilst also showing the different interactive services they offer, such as forums and polls to help people get their view heard. Therefore, showing this story (especially as it is
so familiar to many) and telling it from many different angles may make people
want to buy this newspaper so that they can learn the truth about recent events and have their say.

By using this familiar story of
the three little pigs, it not only grabs people’s attention but draws them in. Hahn
& Hwang (1999) found that using familiar background music increased detail recall
for an advert compared to unfamiliar music with the same advert. Through using
this intriguing twist of the pigs being the villains in this familiar story,
The Guardian make their advert more memorable and likeable, so readers are more
likely to buy their product.

Additionally,
The Guardian, through this advertisement and its brand in general, conveys its reputation
as a credible source. Hovland & Weiss (1951) found that expert and
trustworthy sources were more persuasive on various issues compared to those who
were less trustworthy and lacking expertise, accrediting this to people’s
desire to possess a correct attitude. Through their desire to give readers the ‘whole
picture’, The Guardian further establishes its status as an expert. Therefore as
the reader may feel like they don’t know enough about current issues, they may
rely on the experts to gain their understanding (Pratkanis, 2007), making The
Guardian a prime candidate.

Through use of these techniques, this clever advert seeks to ensure that The Guardian will continue to bring home the bacon, for a long time.

Buying a pair of shoes is certainly not in the doctor’s
handbook for curing insomnia. However in this advertisement, ethical shoe brand
Toms, give us all a lesson in how to make a simple and understated advert,
deliver BIG impact.

The advert makes effective us of the inverted consequences
template. The statement at the bottom of the page reads: “For every pair you
purchase, Toms will give a pair of shoes to a child in need. Since 2006 we have
given over 140,000 shoes to 280,000 little feet”. This highlights the ramifications
of not complying with the request, creating an internal conflict. The viewer is made to feel a sense of moral responsibility in the situation – a
child in need will go without shoes if they do not purchase a pair. Arousal of
emotion is a very effective way to induce compliance to a request. For example, Archer et al (1979) found that
when empathy for a defendant in a legal trial was increased, they received more
favourable decisions. The impact of an emotional message on brand favourability
has been found even when the rest of the content has no effect (Heath, 2007). This
may be because the participant becomes focused on the emotion they are made to
feel and therefore does not take the time to consider and critically analyse what
they have seen, complying with the request as a mechanism to alleviate negative
emotion and experience positive emotions (Pratkanis, 2007). To achieve positive emotions, targets may take the view that they are a charitable person (as
this is traditionally a socially accepted norm and provides good justification
for purchasing the shoes) or they could assert that they are a fashionable
person, for Toms state that being charitable is the ‘biggest fashion statement
you can make’.

Toms also attempts to dissuade viewers from purchasing its
competitor’s products by ‘stealing their thunder’. The main tagline of the
advert states that “Our shoes may not be able to make you run faster or jump
higher” (which Nike Air, Adidas and other brands use as their selling point) “but
it may help you sleep better”. This implies that whilst the other brands may
bring you short term happiness, purchasing a pair of Toms can give you long
term piece of mind, that you are actively making a difference to someone’s
life. This can create a feeling of guilt if purchasing other brands’ shoes, as
in relation to the offer from Tom’s, this seems a rather selfish act. In the
same way as empathy and emotion described above, the feeling of guilt induces a
desire to do something to counteract this behaviour – and buying a pair of Toms
seems a rather straightforward way to rectify this behaviour.

Furthermore an interesting research finding showed that even
when people knew they were being manipulated by a message, their desire to
donate was still positively affected (Hibbert et al, 2007). Therefore Toms seem
to get away with a rather blatant and outrageous statement that buying a pair
of their shoes will help you sleep at night. We all know people who do not have
a pair and sleep comfortably and therefore by thinking rationally, we know that
this is not likely to be an effective solution. However by this time it is too
late and the influence of the consequences template and emotional messages,
mean we have already bought three pairs…

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Disney land. The realm of adventure, fun
and fairy tales. The concept that I have in my head of Disneyland has long been
there, cultivated by stories that I have heard, my own experiences, and of course,
the adverts. Typically an advert for Disneyland features a young child waking
up to be told that they are off to the land where dreams come true, and then
the advert ends on a zoomed in shot of their wonder-filled face. However these new(ish) adverts are a little
bit different. This advertising campaign features a variety of celebrities all
posing as a range of Disney characters. There’s pop-singer Taylor Swift as
Rapunzel, footballer David Beckham as a generic Prince Charming and Beyoncé as
Alice in Wonderland to name a few.

The photographs are beautifully shot by
famous photographer Annie Leibovitz and the images are clear and vivid.
Gonzalez et al (1988) demonstrated that vivid imagery can be a helpful tool
when trying to sell a product. They found that when salesmen presented vivid descriptions
of the product to their customers, then they were more likely to buy it. These
adverts work on the same principle, as they present highly vivid images to
their customers, which will hopefully lead to them going to the parks to
experience their version of the vivid image, in this case, the ‘adventure’ or
the feeling of being a princess. In these adverts, the vivid imagery technique
has the added benefit of making the individual picture their own fairytale,
which means that the advert is perfectly tailored towards them without Disney
actually having to put any extra work into the advertising.

However it is not only the photograph that
is working to sell the product in these adverts. The small tag lines use the
idea that ‘imagery sells’ to promote the product. They use words such as
‘adventure’, ‘imagination’ and ‘destiny’; all words which conjure certain
images in people’s heads. Gregory et al (1982) found that subjects who were
‘led to imagine themselves experiencing certain events came to believe more
strongly that the events would befall them’. So, in terms of these adverts, by
bringing these images to mind, the observer is more likely to go to Disney land
to experience these feelings once they have been put into their head.

An obvious technique that the adverts use
is their utilisation of celebrities. Each advert in the campaign features at
least one celebrity, if not two or three. This demonstrates the ‘high
status-admirer altercast’ as put forward by Pratkanis (2007). The altercast suggests that people admire
those that are high-status, and want to be like them. In order to do this they
try to replicate what they do or have, in this case it means that they would
visit the Disney Parks. The use of celebrities also promotes the idea of
associative casting, that ‘there is a relationship between an individual’s
attraction to a socially distant reference group [the celebrity] and the amount
of influence that the group exerts’ (Cocanougher & Bruce, 1971).By placing the celebrities into the advert,
Disney are trying to influence their fans into going to the parks.

Finally, Disney are using metaphors to make
their parks attractive to their customers. This concept was put forward by
Sopory and Dillard (2002); In this case, the metaphor is the photograph being
used, whether it is of Alice in Wonderland, Prince Charming or any of the
characters. The metaphor here aligns the idea of living the dream and adventure
of the stories with the Disney Parks (the product). By aligning these two
ideas, the advert suggests to the customer that they are one and the same, making
the customer want to experience the 'adventure' of the parks for themselves.

Monday, January 27, 2014

This is an advertisement by Hyundai and various techniques are used to get viewers interested in purchasing this car. So, did you notice the sexy men at the beginning of this advert? I bet you admired them (especially the guy who released the cheetah), didn't you? According to Pratkanis (2007), the desire to identify yourself with physically attractive individuals can increase the persuasive effectiveness for good-looking communicators, implying that in the Hyundai advert both men and women would be more inclined to purchase this particular vehicle in order to identify themselves with physically attractive individuals. Additionally, Reingen and Kernan (1993) found when individuals were asked for donations to a charitable cause, they gave more money to physically attractive people than those who are less attractive, suggesting that physically attractive people are perceived more favourably on traits that are associated with selling attractiveness. Therefore, the presence of sexy men or women in an advertisement can increase sales of a product.

This advertisement displays an association between a Hyundai car and a cheetah, which is the fastest land animal in the world. In this case, the qualities of speed and agility are being transferred onto the Hyundai car; therefore, by association with the cheetah’s speed capability, the car is perceived as something extraordinary and sleek. Moreover, the cheetah is a beautiful animal...would the effect be the same if they used a wildebeest instead? In automobile advertising research, Smith and Engel (1968) found that the presence of an attractive female influenced ratings of automobile performance; simply advertising automobiles with female models increased perceptions of speed, horsepower and price. Therefore, presenting the Hyundai car with a cheetah will make the car more appealing and desirable.

The Hyundai might beat the cheetah, but what about the man? Humour was used at the end of this advertisement when the cheetah gave up on the Hyundai and pursued the attractive male. Sternthal and Craig (1973) found a distraction effect of humour may lead to persuasion. Therefore, this advertisement created a lasting humorous impression on the viewer, which may ultimately lead to increased Hyundai car sales. What did we learn from this advert? Basically, you should buy this Hyundai car because you will never experience death by cheetah (you can never be sure you’re safe from cheetahs in the UK), and you will appear sexy and sleek in you’re new swift car.

Smith, G., & Engel, R. (1968). Influence of a female model on perceived characteristics of an automobile. Proceedings of the 76th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, 3, 681-682.

Sunday, January 26, 2014

This advert has a clear message - stop endangering the
planet or you will grow a fish head.

Okay, whilst we know this wont actually happen, it makes a
strong point. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
is saying that we, as human beings need to do something to stop the rapidly
changing climate before starts affecting us directly. They have cleverly used
Goldenberg, Mazursky and Solomon’s (1999) inverted consequences version of the consequences
template to emphasise their message. This version of the template aims to warn
the reader of the consequences of failing to heed the message promoted by the
ad, which in the case of this advert is that we will apparently turn into
fish-headed mutants if we don’t do our bit to conserve the environment.

As WWF is one of the leading organizations in wildlife
conservation, it has a certain credibility that we, as the reader, feel we can
rely on. When a message comes from a credible source, we are more likely to
have a favourable attitude towards their messages than a source with low
credibility (Tormala, Briñol & Petty, 2006). Therefore, we are more likely
to believe a climate change message from WWF than from, lets say… an unknown
homeless man preaching from a speaker on your local high street.

As for the actual image of a man with a fish for a head,
it’s something that you could see making an appearance in horror film. If all
our heads turned into fish heads tomorrow, I doubt many of us would be happy
about it. What WWF is trying to do here, with this impressionable picture, is
make a fear appeal. A fear appeal involves associating a desired action with
the avoidance of a negative outcome (Pratkanis, 2007). Pratkanis (2007)
explains that fear creates a state of arousal that we as humans want to avoid
and so in order for a fear appeal to be effective, it must offer a solution to
remove this state of fear. In the case of this advert, the fearful message is
that our actions upon the environment will have detrimental effects on our
lives; so WWF provide the solution to remove this fear – do something to help
the environment.

So if you don’t want a fish for a head, take WWF’s advice - do
the recycling.